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Tortilla de Patatas

Tortilla is ubiquitous in Spain and was at the top of my bucket list but it took me until last week to finally make it all on my own. (I think it was the flipping part that scared me away.) The bilingual coordinator at the school I work at showed me how to make tortilla my first weekend here in her beautiful country kitchen. Since then I’ve had it for breakfast, in sandwiches, in the woods for a picnic, as a fancy tapita, and recently we went out to try the best tortilla in Huelva. It’s versatile, and totally adaptable to your taste so whether you keep it traditional or spice things up a bit it is sure to please (and give you a taste of Spain!).And if you choose to smother it in mayonnaise, that seems to be very Spanish, too.

Tortilla de Patatas
You’ll need:
Eggs (about 1-2 per person you’re feeding)
Potatoes (depending on their size, use as many potatoes as you have egg, or more)
1 onion (2 if they’re small)
About a cup of olive oil for frying
Salt to taste

If you’re being untraditional, you can add pretty much anything you’d add to scrambled eggs or omelettes, I like caramelized onions, spinach, cheese, mushrooms, sautéed peppers, eggplant…I could go on.

1. Peel and chop you potatoes and onion into thin slices, or small cubes. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium eat. Add the potato and onion and fry until they are tender. 2. Lightly whisk together your eggs in a large bowl.

3. Once your veg is tender, mix it in with the egg.

4. This part is important!! Make sure that you have a plate that fits over the pan you are using for the tortilla — when you flip the tortilla, you will be flipping it onto said plate.

5. Heat a little more oil on the pan that you will cook your tortilla in. Pour the egg and potato/onion mixture onto the pan. Let it cook until the sides start to brown slightly. The outer edges of the tortilla should looked cook through but the centre will not when it is ready to flip.
6. To flip the tortilla! I would recommend doing this over the sink, just in case something goes wrong. Take your pan of the stove, place your plate over the pan, and quickly (seriously, just do it fast!) flip the tortilla on to the plate. Once you’ve flipped your tortilla (congratulations!), slide it back into the pan on the stove to cook the other side. Cook until it’s all set, as you would a regular omelette.You can cut it into wedges if you’re eating it as part of a meal, or cut it in squares for finger-food-like tapas. Buen provecho!!

4 thoughts on “Tortilla de Patatas”

Reminds me of the less-than-delicious tortilla de patatas that I had in the Madrid train station !! At that point I was not exactly clear on what the tortilla was going to be made of.
Yours looks delicioso !